Why? • Features • How they're used • Plane & Pilot review • Learn to use your GPS

About the Companions:
How They're Used

No matter what kind of GPS you have or whether you are hiking, driving, boating or flying there is a use for the GPS Companions.

Hikers

For the serious back-country hiker or climber the Companions offer a quick source of elevation and coordinate data. They can also serve as an index to your topo maps. The Companions are full of waterfalls, summits and even forestry watch towers that you may want to find.

Casual hikers will find that they can locate many scenic landmarks they might have missed otherwise. Photo captions in guidebooks rarely give good location data for the beautiful scenes they portray. And, its difficult to find such landmarks on tourism maps. With the GPS Companion, your GPS can give you the distance and direction to a landmark, and also help you decide whether you should attempt the hike. (Of course, you should never use GPS as your sole source of navigation in the wilderness.)

Driving

Since highway navigation is the ultimate way to master your GPS, (see Learning to use your GPS) you'll want to do this occasionally. Using the GPS Companions will turn your GPS into the ultimate trip computer. Entering just a few landmarks along your route will allow your GPS to track your progress along the way. Not only will you know the time and distance to your destination, it can also help alert you to upcoming exits or intersections.

When special purpose automotive GPS is perfected, it will offer turn-by-turn guidance and street-level map detail wherever you go. These units are simply not perfected yet, and the ones that come close to this goal are very expensive. I find that when I'm trying to drive to an unfamiliar location, the question I always have is: "Have I gone too far?" With GPS navigators starting under $100 and the GPS Companion, you can begin to answer that question today! And, if you select a more expensive GPS, you'll gain a lot of useful features, but you'll never outgrow the GPS Companions. The Companions make even the most expensive GPS more useful. (Remember, don't let GPS use distract you while driving.)

Boating

The biggest contribution that the Companions can make to boating navigation is training! And that's no small matter. (see Learning to use your GPS) The companions don't list fishing hot spots or under water structure. But refreshing your navigation skills while driving to the docks is a very good idea.

When you lay a straight-line course on land, the highway won't follow it exactly. This is a better simulation of boating than you might realize! Islands, peninsulas and marked waterways often prevent you from taking a straight-line course to your destination. As you work your way around these features, you'll be some distance off-course and the GPS display can be very confusing. The only thing that will overcome this problem is recent experience. That's why you should continually refresh your training. The good news it's kind of fun!

The GPS Companions do include all the little towns along the water, and major capes, lighthouses, and a few islands. They are very useful for sightseeing trips!

Flying

The most important contribution that the Companions can make to aviation is recurrent training! (see Learning to use your GPS.) Once your GPS skills are all polished up the Companions can still be a lot of fun. Whether you use a sporting GPS while flying your ultra-light, or you'd like to be able to pick out an occasional landmark using your IFR certified GPS, the Companions have something to offer YOU.

Start with flight planning! Since Sectional and WAC Charts have no index, most pilots have to use the index of a road atlas to locate unfamiliar towns on the chart before they can even begin planning the flight. If the destination happens to be near the borders of two or more charts, they sort-of guess which chart to open first. Since the lines that divide the charts run along even Latitude and Longitude values, the GPS Companions can really help here. First, look up the coordinates of your destination town or city. Now, refer to the overview on any chart and select the chart that includes your destination. Next use those same coordinates and the grid on the chart to actually FIND the spot on the map, just like looking for "G-7" on a road map only much more precise.

If you are a seaplane pilot, your "Aviation" GPS has a database of land-plane airports and a few registered seaplane bases. The GPS Companions include the coordinates of the tiny towns that are near the lakes you intend to land on. They can help you lay a straight course for your real target.

While you are enroute, use the GPS Companion to increase your positional awareness. By planning for and positively identifying scenic landmarks and other waypoints along the way, you will be far more aware of where you really are. Just knowing that you are "exactly 53.6 miles out" doesn't mean you know the name of that little town right there. A little pre-flight planning can help you keep your entire trip "stitched" to solid landmarks. It's not much work, and it's a lot of fun.

How many times have you been asked to report when you have the "airport in sight"? The GPS says it ought to be "right over there", but you still can't pick it out. Here is where positional awareness really comes in handy. If you've planned to positively identify a couple of small towns or landmarks just prior to arriving at your destination, you'll be in a much better shape to spot that airport. The GPS Companions make that planning easier.

If you fly an ultralight, you can use the Companions to help identify those tiny towns around the edge of the Terminal Area Chart. Those positive landmarks can help you avoid restricted airspace. Aerial photographers use the Companions to help find their targets as well.

Once you reach the airport nearest your destination, don't pack the GPS away! You can use it to help navigate the rental car. Over 90% of the cities and towns in the USA don't have an airport! You can use the GPS Companion to help you all the way to your final destination.

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